Australian premier pledges greener steps

Prime Minister John Howard has announced he will set up a fund to finance “substantial” investments in reducing greenhouse gases, a move critics say is an attempt to bolster his environmental credentials ahead of elections next month.

Howard made the announcement late Sunday during his first and only debate with Labor Party leader Kevin Rudd, who has dominated polls throughout the year.

With Australia suffering its worst drought on record, climate change has emerged as a major issue among voters in the run-up to the Nov. 24 elections.

Howard, a former climate change skeptic, has refused to sign the 1997 Kyoto Protocol on global warming. Rudd’s Labor Party has positioned itself as a leader on the issue and vowed to reduce Australia’s gas emissions by 20% by 2020 and 60% by 2050 if it wins.

Responding to pressure from business groups, Howard pledged this year to establish a national carbon dioxide emissions trading system by 2012.

Under the system, the government would set an annual cap on carbon dioxide emissions and issue a fixed number of pollution permits to Australian companies, which could buy and sell them in an open marketplace.

Howard has repeatedly declined to specify the annual emissions cap until after the balloting.

But in his latest election pledge, Howard said his government would set up a special fund to divert money from the trading of carbon permits to boost investment in green energy and subsidize energy bills for low- income residents.